Raymond J. Harbert

Raymond J. Harbert
Born Raymond Jones Harbert
December 1958
Birmingham, Alabama
Residence Mountain Brook, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater Auburn University
Occupation Investor, philanthropist
Employer Harbert Management Corporation
Title Chairman and CEO
Spouse(s) Kathryn Dunn
Children 3
Parent(s) John M. Harbert
Marguerite Harbert
Relatives Bill L. Harbert (paternal uncle)

Raymond Jones Harbert (born December 1958) is an American business executive, investor and philanthropist from Alabama. He is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Harbert Management Corporation (HMC), a global private investment firm with US$4.3 billion of assets under management.[1] He donated US$25 million to Auburn University as part of a US$40 million donation pledge.

Early life

Raymond Jones Harbert was born in December 1958[2] and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. His father, John M. Harbert, founded Harbert Corporation, a large multinational construction company, in 1949.[3] His mother, Marguerite Harbert, was a billionaire philanthropist.[3] He has a brother, John M. Harbert IV, and a sister, Marguerite H. Gray.[4]

He graduated from Auburn University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management in 1982.[5][6][7]

Career

Harbert was appointed as Vice President of Business Development at Harbert International, a subsidiary of his father's company, Harbert Corporation, in 1982.[7] Later, he was appointed as the President of its real estate subsidiary, Harbert Properties Corporation.[7] From 1988 to 1990, he served as the Vice President of Harbert Corporation, with responsibility for all investment activities.[7] In 1990, he was elected as its Chief Executive Officer, taking over all executive responsibilities from his father.[7]

In 1993, Harbert borrowed US$3 million from his inheritance and founded Harbert Management Corporation, a global investment management firm headquartered in Birmingham.[8][9] Over the next 20 years, HMC expanded and grew, opening offices around the US and Europe.[8] The firm manages money for a wide variety of clients ranging from public endowments and foundations to high net worth individuals and family offices.[10] HMC invests in real estate, energy, private equity and debt, venture capital, and the public markets.[8]

In 2000, Harbert launched what became Harbinger Capital Partners, a hedge fund managed by Philip Falcone.[8][11] After a strong 10 year run under the HMC umbrella, Falcone became the majority owner of Harbinger, though Harbert remained a personal investor.[8]

In 2006, Harbert was sued by his sister Marguerite under the suspicion that he had failed to fulfil his fiduciary duties to the other shareholders of the Harbert Corporation, including his other brother and herself.[12] Gray's claims mischaracterize relevant details and are without merit.[13]

Philanthropy

Harbert serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Auburn University.[14] In 2013, he pledged a US$40 million donation to its College of Business.[9] Harbert donated US$25 million and agreed to donate US$15 million more should the university fundraise US$15 million on top of its donations.[9] As a result, the Board of Trustees renamed it the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business.[6][7] The donation helped fund professorial chairs, a doctoral program in finance, and the establishment of the Harbert Investments Center, a research center within the business school in conjunction with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.[7] It was the largest charitable contribution ever made to Auburn University.[6]

Harbert served on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Trust Fund.[5] He also served on the Liberal Arts Advisory Council of Wake Forest University.[5] He now serves on the Board of Trustees of Children's of Alabama, a children's hospital in Birmingham.[15] He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Birmingham Business Alliance.[16]

Personal life

Harbert is married to Kathryn Dunn Harbert and they have three children.[7] They reside in Mountain Brook, Alabama, an affluent neighborhood of Birmingham.[8] Harbert also owns a 10,000-acre plantation in South Alabama, where he hunts quail and turkey.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.harbert.net/
  2. ↑ "HARBERT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION (EUROPE), LLC". Companies House. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Connor Sheets, Who are the richest Alabamians now that billionaire Marguerite Harbert has passed?, The Birmingham News, March 23, 2015
  4. ↑ Tiffany Ray, Harbert heiress sues brother over family cash, Birmingham Business Journal, December 24, 2006
  5. 1 2 3 Raymond J. Harbert, Bloomberg Business
  6. 1 2 3 The beginning of the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business at Auburn University, Harbert Magazine Online: The Alumni Magazine of Auburn University's Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, June 21, 2013
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tara Grant Jones, The Man Behind the Name :: Raymond J. Harbert, Auburn Family: Auburn University's Social Network, June 21, 2013
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Helyar, Harbert Outperforming Falcone With 11% Return Suffers Asset Drop, Bloomberg Business, May 16, 2012
  9. 1 2 3 Evan Belanger, Auburn board member pledges $40 million, biggest donation in university history, The Birmingham News, June 21, 2013
  10. ↑ Harbert Management Corporation website,
  11. ↑ Laurie Bennett, Raymond Harbert, phantom investor in the Times saga, Muckety, June 2, 2009
  12. ↑ Russell Hubbard, Harbert construction family siblings settle dispute over family fortune, The Birmingham News, February 19, 2010
  13. ↑ Tiffany Ray, http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/12/18/daily19.html, Birmingham Business Journal, December 22, 2006
  14. ↑ Auburn University: Board of Trustees
  15. ↑ Children's of Alabama: Board of Trustees
  16. ↑ Birmingham Business Alliance: BBA Volunteer Leadership
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